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Human Origins in Africa

Human Origins in Africa. Prehistory. Definition: The time before the invention of writing - roughly 5,000 years ago. Specially trained scientists work to uncover information about the prehistoric peoples. Scientists Search for Human Origins. Definitions.

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Human Origins in Africa

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  1. Human Origins in Africa

  2. Prehistory • Definition: The time before the invention of writing - roughly 5,000 years ago. • Specially trained scientists work to uncover information about the prehistoric peoples.

  3. Scientists Search for Human Origins

  4. Definitions • Culture: The way of life of a society, which includes its beliefs, values, and practices. • Artifact: Objects made by humans. • Technology: The skills and tools people use to meet their basic needs and wants.

  5. Scientific Discoveries

  6. Mary Leakey • English archaeologist • Mid-1970s led a scientific expedition to Laetoli in Tanzania (East Africa) • 1978: Found footprints made by humanlike beings – australopithecines – which are part of the hominid family. • What do these footprints tell us? - 3,600,000 yrs. ago, man’s direct ancestor walked upright - form of the foot was exactly the same as ours

  7. Donald Johanson • American anthropologist • 1974 – His team explored sites in Ethiopia, 1000 miles north of Leakey’s find • Found an unusually complete skeleton of an adult female hominid • Nicknamed her “Lucy” after Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” • Lucy lived 3.5 million years ago – the oldest hominid to date

  8. Hominid Development

  9. First Finds of Humans Around the World • Scientists believe that between 250,000 and 100,000 years ago, Homo erectus disappeared. • A new group of hominids emerged, called Homo sapiens. • There is a dispute as to where Homo sapiens first lived. - Many think evidence supports the “Out of Africa” theory – migrated from Africa to other areas of the world. - Others believe Homo erectus developed into Homo sapiens around the same time in different areas of the world. • Scholars think two groups of Homo sapiens arose – Neanderthals and the earliest modern humans. - Early modern humans spread all over the world eventually. - Neanderthals lived mostly in Europe and western Asia and disappeared between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago. - This left only early modern humans as the only hominids on Earth.

  10. Recent Findings • 1994: Two fossil hunters in Ethiopia found a 2.33 million-year-old jaw. - oldest fossil belonging to species that includes modern humans - also unearthed stone tools suggesting that first toolmakers emerged earlier than previously thought • 1996: Team of researchers from Canada and the U.S. dated a Neanderthal bone flute. - believe it is between 43,000 and 82,000 yrs. old - hints at Neanderthal’s gift of musical expression

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